The deliberations
between Washington and the automotive industry have been fierce when it comes
to agreeing on the new CAFE standards for automobiles. The automotive industry
still maintains that he cost to implement the tech to reach the CAFE standards
proposed by 2025 will cut sales andcost
jobsin the automotive market.

However, it looks like Washington and Detroit are
near to making a deal, as five of the top automotive manufacturers (Chrysler, GM, Ford, Honda, and Hyundai) areready
to backa slightly reduced fuel economy standard by 2025. The
original CAFE proposal had the fleet wide fuel economy average at 56 MPG by
2025 and the new reduced standards are 54.5 MPG.

However, the new plan also has other stipulations.
Earlier this weekDailyTechreported
that Detroit was looking for reduced standards for light truck and work trucks.
Washington is willing to deal according to theDetroit
News. The new plan will see the fuel efficiency on light truck going up
3.5% annually from 2017 to 2012 -- in 2022-2025, the economy standards will go
up by 5% anually.

There is also a plan to make special rules for
work trucks as wasrequested
by Detroit. An official in the Obama administration said, "We are
encouraged by the strong, positive feedback we are receiving from many
companies and look forward to wrapping up the discussions in the near
future."

Announcements of support for the new plan could
come as early as today reportsThe Detroit News. There hasn’t been word from the
environmentalist camp in California that was strongly supporting higher CAFE
standards. If California isn't happy, they still have the power to set their
own standards within the state.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said,
"This is not easy, but the companies are being very cooperative. Frankly,
everyone is working 24-7. These deliberations are going on somewhere between 12
and 18 hours every day for the last several days … I think we will get there."

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I hold onto my oldest car because it's nearly free to do so. It doesn't get driven much so annual repair and maintenance costs are under $200, but it's handy to have a spare around should another vehicle be out of service for repair or accident/etc reasons.